Home Applications Back to the Future
Ian MuirIan has worked in Technical Sales for Lighting manufacturers, often crossing the divide into fixture R&D for a number of years. His experience spans the pioneering days of LED based lighting in the Naughties to the present.
Written by Ian Muir
The development of lighting used in Film and TV production has a multifaceted history, influenced by technology, as well as the required aesthetic outcome.
Many types and methodologies of lighting utilised for periods in the last 120 years have had their time and fallen into disuse. But could it be that some elements of lighting technique once used extensively, can still be relevant when combined with other more current technologies? The incredibly soft, wrapping illumination of the incandescent Spacelight made it ubiquitous on soundstage around the world for decades. Is it possible to revive the methodology with a high output Gemini 2 1 Hard LED panel?
The History To start with, a history lesson of sorts.
Lighting has predominantly followed the technology of image capture, to complement the spectral constraints of the chosen medium. This can be charted from the use of Orthochromatic Black and White film in the early part of the last century, which is sensitive to the blue end of the spectrum, and reproduces higher wavelengths like red for, example, as black. To get the best result, Orthochromatic film was exposed with sources that provided the most appropriate wavelengths of light in relation to its sensitivity. Initially this was Mercury Vapour, then Carbon Arc as well as good old-fashioned daylight. Etymology note, daylight was often controlled using large sails, which is one possible origin for the term Gaffer as in the nautical Gaff rigged.
1922 saw the introduction by Eastman Kodak of the first motion picture Panchromatic Black and White Stock. Panchromatic film is sensitive to a much broader spectrum of light and therefore, lighting needed the spectral capacity to derive a more complete response (particularity in the mid tones), from the tonal values of the scene captured. This led to a transition to incandescent lighting (often referred to generically as Tungsten ), which offers a broader spectrum. Incandescent fixtures could also be more easily utilised with Fresnel lenses and barn doors which introduced better control, and more creativity into the process.
The introduction of Technicolor in the later part of the 30's (The Wizard of OZ being the first notable example), saw a return to Carbon Arc for reasons relating to the colour sensitivity of the process, however the technology was re-colour balanced in the 50's to improve its response to incandescents because they were more economical to use.
alt=wizzard of Oz 1939 data-nectar-img-srcset=https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/wizzard-of-Oz-1939.png 1160w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/wizzard-of-Oz-1939-300x190.png 300w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/wizzard-of-Oz-1939-1024x647.png 1024w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/wizzard-of-Oz-1939-768x485.png 768w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/wizzard-of-Oz-1939-600x379.png 600w sizes=(max-width: 1160px) 100vw, 1160px title=The Wizard of Oz. Credit: 1939 Warner Home Video />The Wizard of Oz. Credit: 1939 Warner Home Video
Whilst this is all very interesting the question you could still be asking what is your point?
Rock and roll lighting innovations As we move into the 60's things become much more rock n roll' in terms of the technologies available and perhaps most importantly, the protagonists involved. In a nutshell this was the introduction of better colour film emulsions with much better colour rendition and contrast ratios, Colour TV, and full spectrum Tungsten Halogen lamps. And John and Benny Lee.
John and Benny, from modest backgrounds spotted the rapidly expanding opportunities in both Film and TV, founding Lee Lighting in 1961. The shape and foundations of the UK film industry has its roots in the organisation which they evolved through the 60's 70's and 80's. Lee Lighting facilitated the growth that occurred by satisfying the increasing demand for lighting, camera, grip and rigging, as well as studio space.
Importantly Lee Lighting was also responsible for lighting innovations which provided better solutions to the problems that TV and Film production faced:
The Wendy Light. Built at the behest of Cinematographer David Wendy' Watkins, best known for films such as Out of Africa (for which he won an academy award), who wanted a means of filming actors traversing a scene in moonlight with constant illumination, without resorting to hiding lights at points along their travel. The Wendy Light, still widely used today, overcame this issue.
alt= data-nectar-img-srcset=https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/david-watkin-wendy-light-in-use.jpg 1920w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/david-watkin-wendy-light-in-use-300x110.jpg 300w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/david-watkin-wendy-light-in-use-1024x374.jpg 1024w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/david-watkin-wendy-light-in-use-768x281.jpg 768w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/david-watkin-wendy-light-in-use-1536x562.jpg 1536w, https://www.litepanels.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/david-watkin-wendy-light-in-use-600x219.jpg 600w sizes=(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px title=Wendy Light. Image Credit: BSC />Wendy Light. Image Credit: BSC
Flicker free ballasts for HMI fixtures. HMI had replaced Carbon Arc as a daylight balanced fixture because of its ease of deployment and economy of use. Early variants however could produce flicker on film. Lee designed and built a balla
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
UKTV has today announced the appointment of Matt Berry to the newly created role of General Manager - Marketing, effective 1 July.
Matt will take on this senio...
01/07/2026
Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign featuring Deborah Meaden challenges consumers to rethink everyday bathroom wasteWednesday 1 July 2026
Fussy asks Bri...
01/07/2026
Constituency-level analysis reveals where girls miss out most on sport - and where targeted action could unlock more than £640 million in economic and health be...
01/07/2026
Wuppertal July 1, 2026
Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive IntegrationRiedel Communications today announced an expanded collaboration wit...
01/07/2026
Apple today introduced power-packed updates to Apple Creator Studio, a groundbre...
01/07/2026
Nectar360, the Retail Media, Loyalty and Insights business of the Sainsburys Gro...
01/07/2026
9.2 million streams on RT Player between 11 and 28 June
Reach of 2.9 million viewers during Group stages of FIFA World Cup on RT 2
23 million video views acr...
30/06/2026
Could your journalism reach an international stage?
Entries are now open for the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2026, one of the most prestigi...
30/06/2026
Brings together saturation & lo-fi effects
Following on from the release of their Voxcraft vocal-processing plug-in, UJAM have announced the launch of Retro...
30/06/2026
New IR reverb engine, Juno-inspired chorus & more
The latest version of Rapid Flow's hardware-emulation synth plug-in expands on its predecessor with a ...
30/06/2026
Excels at heavy-handed VCA compression
For their latest release, Shy Audio have recreated the crunchy' sound of a rackmount compressor that found its w...
30/06/2026
Component scarcity drives cost increases
Shortly after Apple's CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that cost increases would soon be inevitable , the company hav...
30/06/2026
Hitachi and Bank Pekao S.A. have completed the installation of the first Hitachi...
30/06/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/06/2026
Four-layer instrument aimed at dark electronic music
Excite Audio's latest software instrument has been designed with dark drum and bass, atmospheric te...
29/06/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
29/06/2026
Details environmental policies & results
The Focusrite Group have just announced that following a long audit process, they have published their 2026 sustain...
29/06/2026
Arvato Systems Achieves AWS Cloud Operations Competency
The team behind the AWS Cloud Operations Competency (from left to right: Philipp Hellmich, Johanna Bod...
29/06/2026
RT today announced that Ger Gilroy will join the RT Podcasts team to present a daily sports podcast. Launching later this year, the new show will set the spor...
29/06/2026
RT Commercial announced OUTsurance as sponsor of the Oliver Callan show on RT Radio 1 from Wednesday 1 July.
Oliver Callan doubles the fun, delivering two ...
28/06/2026
Half-size model joins Console 1 line-up
Shortly after the release of their new Flow Studio controller, Softube have announced the launch of another new surf...
28/06/2026
New EXO Series DSP control software announced
EVE Audio's EXO Series monitor range has just gained a new software element that provides remote access to...
27/06/2026
Brings together saturation & lo-fi effects
Following on from the release of their Voxcraft vocal-processing plug-in, UJAM have announced the launch of Retro...
26/06/2026
Virtual session musician plug-in gains new percussion options
Celemony's latest update for their virtual session musician platform complements the exist...
26/06/2026
Half-size model joins Console 1 line-up
Shortly after the release of their new Flow Studio controller, Softube have announced the launch of another new surf...
26/06/2026
ELT Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial...
26/06/2026
Flicker Productions to produce five-part docu-reality series following women who have fallen for men in prison and have become TikTok sensations, with brands an...
26/06/2026
Catch up on the latest developments across Baselight and Daylight v7, Nara and F...
26/06/2026
26. June 2026 News
DFT is pleased to announce that a second Polar HQ film s...
26/06/2026
A fresh look at how the Irish helped shape the foundations of the United States
...
25/06/2026
Six free workshops across two days
Global music education platform Music Production for Women (MPW), have just announced a brand new and highly anticipated ...
25/06/2026
Popular pedalboard PSU gets an upgrade
The DC7 v2 is a new and improved version of the renowned effects pedal PSU from CIOKS, and is said to be the thinnest...
25/06/2026
Optimised for lush, enveloping sounds
Described as an instantly rewarding reverb , the latest addition to Arturia's range of creative effects plug-ins ...
25/06/2026
27 June 2026, Westminster University Harrow Campus
GearExpo UK is now upon us, with just two days to go until 150 of the worlds top pro-audio brands and ind...
25/06/2026
alt= data-nectar-img-srcset=https://www.antonbauer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/0...
25/06/2026
Thursday 25 June 2026
Read all about it! The Paper will return for a second sea...
25/06/2026
Thursday 25 June 2026
How to watch the 2026/27 EFL season on Sky Sports
Which EFL matches are Sky Sports showing on the 2026/27 opening weekend?
Sky Sports w...
25/06/2026
Launching today (Thursday 25 June), new RT podcast Ramble with Joe McGucken is a series of curiosity-driven conversations where actor, writer and comedian Joe ...
24/06/2026
Plus: VoiceAssist Basic now available to UA LUNA users
NoiseWorks Audio have just released an update that adds a new Mouth De-Click module to the Advanced t...
24/06/2026
New heavy-duty mic stand joins range
The latest arrival to Gator's Frameworks family introduces a new heavy-duty boom stand that's been designed for...
24/06/2026
Latest major plug-in update goes live
Waves have just announced that the latest major update for their hugely popular plug-in range is now officially availa...
24/06/2026
When assessing cellular coverage, many people look at the signal bars displayed on a smartphone, router or modem. More bars are often assumed to mean better per...
Home Applications Back to the Future
